Hello, Internet traveler.

My name is Eric Dodds. Thanks for stopping by. If this were in person, I’d be offering a firm handshake and square look in the eye.

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Thank you, John Saddington

This week on The Iron Yard blog I wrote about my friend and former business partner John Saddington.1 He’s left The Iron Yard to pursue a new adventure, so I recounted the story of how we met, what it was like to grow a company with him and the impact he had on me. Here are a few excerpts:

Seeing John mentor startups was fascinating. He’d experienced multiple exits as an entrepreneur, was fluent in multiple programming languages (in almost all of which he’d built successful apps) and somehow managed to have blogged every day for more than a decade, establishing him as an authority in all types of online publishing. Needless to say, I felt privileged to spend some time with him on that day. If you’d told me that I’d one day build a company with John, I’d have called you crazy.

As a new entrepreneur, I had a lot of lessons to learn and John gently guided me through The Iron Yard’s growth, helping me avoid many pitfalls he’d seen along the way in his own ventures and at other companies. He taught me how to keep my priorities straight and stay physically healthy during life on the road. John’s encouragement has matured me as a writer and I still hear his voice today when I’m staring at a blank screen trying to type out what’s in my head. Beyond work, though, I felt genuinely cared for by John—and still do. It’s easy to ask how work is going, but he always started our conversations asking about life and my family.

John, it was a wonderful ride and I’m privileged to call you my friend. Here’s to many more conversations.